Growing up, 20-year-old Tracy-Ann Knight had a great dream – to become a member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF). “When I was younger I would get so excited to wear police uniform for career day. I also knew I wanted to have a business on the side,” Knight told THE STAR. After graduating from Garvey Maceo High School in 2023, the Clarendon native applied to join the JCF and was called for recruitment the following year. “When I went there, I did the exam but they said I was too short and that they would call me back, but they didn’t call me back,” she recalled. “I checked and checked, but I never got a call. When I went to the recruitment office, they told me there would be another recruitment in my area so I should wait.” Rather than allowing the disappointment to cripple her, she traded her dream of wearing the uniform for the opportunity to build a business of her own. “I was so hurt but I had to give up on it because I needed to do something. I said I might as well start doing business.” She first began making and selling homemade face and body soaps, but the venture was cut short after her family was rocked by the deaths of her cousin and uncle. “When I got back on my feet, I started another business selling handbags and female accessories. Just as that business began start take off it’s another setback come,” she said. “My father got sick and I had to be visiting him at Falmouth Hospital. He was later transferred to Cornwall Regional Hospital where he died.” Although they did not have the closest relationship growing up, Knight said she couldn’t abandon him.  “He didn’t help my mother with me going to school, but when he got sick, mi say a still mi father, so mi nah go neglect him,” she said. The constant hospital visits forced her to put the business on pause.  “Mi couldn’t do mi deliveries and customers would get things elsewhere, so it affected the business badly,” she said. Determined not to let another dream die, Knight sold her remaining stock and invested her savings into launching T Shipping Courier four months ago. “I was determined because I saw that people in this area wanted things but didn’t have the means to get them without having to travel out of reach,” she said. Despite entering an already crowded market, Knight said she has exceeded her own expectations, getting more customers quicker than she expected.  “The amount of packages I’ve gotten for my customers is just unbelievable so I know that I’m on the right path,” she said. “People try fi tell me that this business is already there and I shouldn’t do it, but anything I set my mind to, I do it. You always ago have those who try change your mind from even trying, but there are families and friends who encourage me and say make sure mi follow through with this one.”  Her biggest challenge, she said, was convincing people to sign up as she had no social media presence.  “So most of my customers were people who knew me directly. When I started using Instagram and TikTok, posting content and putting stickers on posts and vehicles, I started getting customers outside of my area,” she said. She now credits good customer service for helping the business grow.  “I know what it feels like waiting on packages because I used to sell bags. I use that experience to communicate with customers, but mi make sure them get them packages on time. I have a growing number of loyal customers because I am affordable, easy to deal with and give people the service they are paying for.” Knight is encouraging other young people not to quit when life gets difficult. “Never give up because when I started the first two businesses they didn’t work out. Even when I started this business four months ago, I wasn’t making any money. I almost give up again,” she said. “I was telling myself I would have to figure out something else, but with a little encouragement I kept pushing, kept the faith, and it’s working out.” While entrepreneurship is now her focus, Knight still has plans for school.  “I applied to HEART and I’m following up on starting a course in business administration.”